Ricardo lays out this case study in a clean, minimalistic way. If you have data related to the project, this will be easybut what if there arent any concrete metrics to showcase? Above all else, UX designers are problem-solvers. Our graduates are highly skilled, motivated, and prepared for impactful careers in tech. The Google UX Design Certificate is available globally in English on Coursera, a global online learning platform that offers access to online courses. But what if you dont have any industry experience (yet)? Daniels portfolio also helps to answer that all-too-common conundrum: Whats the right amount of projects to showcase in your UX design portfolio? How did you keep your stakeholders in the loop? Get inspiration for your entry-level UX portfolio with real world examples. Your homepage should include a compelling headline introducing who you are and what you do. If you aim to be a generalist, choose projects where you worked on all elements of the design process. Saurabh Srivastava is a seasoned technologist, design strategist and mixed-method researcher. If your project had multiple phases, separate each phase by research question. This focus on problem-solving also conveys another essential UX trait: empathy for the user. If youre a new UX designer trying to build up your portfolio, take a leaf out of Priyankas book and complete some unsolicited redesigns of your own. WebIn theory, building a UX portfolio gives tangible proof of ones skills and abilities to prospective employers. She shows us exactly how it came to light, and in what capacity she was employed to help solve it. First, though, lets consider exactly what a UX portfolio is, the purpose it serves, and some resources for how to build one: If youd rather go directly to our hand-picked selection of awesome UX design portfolios, you can skip ahead to the one that interests you: When it comes to creating an impressive UX portfolio, its important to understand exactly what your portfolio should achieve. Spend some time figuring out your personal brand. Choose projects that are fun or interesting to you and that youd be proud to display in your portfolio. You focus here is making this concise and digestible because you may feel compelled to go on for days about this. Lola Jiang is a California-based UX designer currently working at Google. You should also think through how long projects usually take you and how you adapt to different timelines based on the needs of your stakeholders. A particularly interesting example is the website design he did for a group of lawyers offering free legal aid to travelers at Dulles Airport in response to the Muslim travel ban in 2017. Explore the foundational concepts of UX design, including user-centered design, the design process, and accessibility. Ask past clients if there is any information that they are comfortable with you sharing you may be able to post short excerpts of your research deliverables in your portfolio. Just like Elizabeth, support each case study with meaningful visualsthat is, real artifacts from your project, not just illustrations. Highlight findings that changed your teams approach to a problem or that you found particularly interesting. Would you have chosen a different method if you had more time, funds, or a bigger pool to recruit participants from? 4. Besides his four featured projects, Daniels portfolio also includes a section dedicated to Other Works. Another option for a case study you can complete without any formal UX design experience is to build a concept app or website from scratch. So, its not just about how many projects you showcase; its just as important to pick a good variety. Karina also recommended four UXR portfolios to check out. His case study includes his research methods, market analysis, detailed user persona, user journey map, and lots of early sketches and website iterations. Thats the sign of a passionate UX designer! When we survey UX professionals about their career growth, we often hear that presenting a strong portfolio of past work is an important piece of the job-search process. Choose a project you care about. Priyanka doesnt just limit herself to her portfolio website; she also shares her case studies and tips via Medium (where shes accrued over a thousand followers!). Complete a Google Career Certificate to get exclusive access to CareerCircle, which offers free 1-on-1 coaching, interview and career support, and a job board to connect directly with employers, including over 150 companies in the Google Career Certificates Employer Consortium. Tie your project to business results if possible. The portfolio serves to highlight your skills to potential clients and employers. Youve landed your first interview for a UX designer role. Do you need a degree to become a UX designer? As the global user-experience community grows and matures, we expect that it will be increasingly important for job applicants to present their research skills and past work. Moritz studied UX design with CareerFoundry and is now part of the Global Goals Curriculum 2030 team, helping to shape a democratic, just, and sustainable society through the power of education. Jeremy begins his case study by introducing the service, then takes you behind the scenes to see his design process. Begin creating your portfolio with an understanding of what people reading it will want to know. Google has worked with Coursera to make Google Career Certificates available on their platform. If youre more interested in user research or user interface (UI) design, prioritize these elements in your case studies. The best UX designers are those who can advocate for the user while meeting the needs of the business, so try to convey this throughout your portfolio. The Google UX Design Certificate costs $39 per month by subscription on Coursera. Despite the fact that these unsolicited redesigns are pure passion projects, Priyanka lends them the credibility they deserve by documenting her process in detail. The Google UX Design Certificate is currently available in English and we are working to offer this certificate in additional languages. Employers and potential clients want to know who you are and what youre all aboutand they should be able to find this out within seconds of landing on your portfolio website. It has been incredibly rewarding to put these new skills to work in real life scenarios. UX Design. Next, Olivia explains, in detail, how she set about trying to solve this problemin a section aptly named There Must Be Something Out There. (Plus, definitely, a discussion of the design thinking behind the designs.) They provide further, more personal insights into the projectsuch as It was cool seeing how differently teachers would use this dashboard or We didnt move forward with this exploration because we wanted to validate the base solution first.. We back our programs with a job guarantee: Follow our career advice, and youll land a job within 6 months of graduation, or youll get your money back. How did you decide your first audience and how to share your work. Putting together your UX research portfolio: how to make post-it notes sexybyKarina Hickey-Access to Karina's talk, slides, and notes from UX Australia, How to create a POWERful case study for your UX portfoliobyDavid Travis-POWER method explained in more detail, Breaking into UX Research: Ideas from our UX CommunitybyMe-Find ideas for your UXR portfolios and see more examples, Building a Portfolio - New Layer Podcast-While related design portfolios, there's useful commentary on narrative. If you are applying for UX researcher roles, Another way to add real client work to your UX portfolio is to complete one or two small projects pro bono. First, she treats us to a bold, eye-catching headline that describes her in terms of her favorite activities. Thank you! For example, the team decided to focus their efforts on solving two specific user pain pointsnamely finding the car and starting the ride without a driver. Take her AI Training Platform case study, for example. Portfolios can acknowledge that projects were conducted with a limited budget, a small data set, or a convenient sample of users. Research professionals are often required to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) before beginning a project. Every time you work on a new design project, document your process: take screenshots of user research surveys you send out, snap photos of your wall covered in sticky notes after a heavy brainstorming session, and keep hold of your wireframes as they progress from low to high fidelity. This is much more personal and empathy-driven than if shed said Users struggle to come up with date ideas because theyre so busy. Last but not least, refer back to the original problem throughouteven when you progress to the solution. Highlight your specialty. She starts by outlining the challenge she set for herself, then walks through the steps of her design process, with plenty of images to document her work. Unfortunately, many university projects focus on rather esoteric designs instead of bread-and-butter corporate concerns, so try to do at least one project of obvious business value, such as the design of an ecommerce site. Even without data, you can frame your work in a business context. What information did you gather before getting started with a research plan? This aims to help open up additional pathways to learners who are interested in higher education, and prepare them for entry-level jobs. Sometimes, the first project to go into your portfolio will be a UX project you worked on as part of a design course, UX bootcamp, or degree program. Just like Moritz, she presents her design work in the form of case studies, documenting her process from start to finish. Yes! Just because youve never completed UX design work for a paying client doesnt mean you have to apply for your first job with an empty portfolio. Another valuable takeaway from Priyankas portfolio is the power of blogging. WebQualitative User Experience Researcher I am passionate about people and technology. In this program, youll learn in-demand skills that will have you job-ready in less than 6 months. Launch your career as a front-end developer. Moritz Oesterlau: The art of storytelling through case studies, Olivia Truong: How to show problem-solving, Daniel Autry: The right amount of portfolio projects, Five Golden Rules to Build a Job-Winning UX Design Portfolio, Approach to Digitization in Education case study, 9 Awesome Portfolios From UX Design Bootcamp Graduates, How I Designed And Built My UX Design Portfolio From Scratch, 9 Free Websites for Building You UX/UI Portfolio, How to become a UX designer in under one year. I've dug them up from the interwebs here: What I love about this collection is the diversity in format, organization, and style. Most researchers dont actively maintain one, most job postings dont require one, and they dont come up in most interviews. Compiling a research portfolio can be intimidating, particularly if you are at an early stage of your UX career. Seek feedback on your portfolio from peers and mentors to learn where you can improve. Portfolio example: Jeremy Stokes - Cultivate. Who did you collaborate with on these? Another way to add real client work to your UX portfolio Expert industry organizations and platforms like Figma, among others, consulted and collaborated on material. Zenprint: 7% reduction in bounce rate. Daniel Autry is a designer, developer, and behavioural researcher based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Once youve got a theme in mind, you can start to think about the kinds of colors and imagery that will help to convey this. UX designers focus on the experience that people have while using products like websites, apps, and physical objects. View Priyanka Guptas full portfolio website. Researchers should show a versatile skillset, so, if you have experience with different research methodologies (e.g., qualitative and quantitative research methods, usability testing and focus groups), prioritize capturing those skills in your portfolio. Want to keep exploring UX design? Daniels portfolio teaches us an important lesson about the right number of portfolio projects: There isnt one! The idea is to have a functioning piece of software by the end of the competitive event, usually constrained to 24 to 72 hours. They design products and tools so that they are more useful and accessible for users. After observing that other people also experienced issues with the app, I pursued this redesign as an opportunity to improve the experience in any way I could.. You know youve improved the user experience, but how do you substantiate that? Elizabeths portfolio illustrates perfectly how visual and textual storytelling should work together to demonstrate your UX design process. Where did you fit into the overall team? While theres no hard and fast rule about the number of projects to include in your portfolio, consider featuring three to five in-depth case studies. Fast and flexible, the UX design curriculum is hosted on Coursera, one of the worlds leading online learning platforms, so you can learn at the pace thats right for you. For example, creating a more pleasant app experience for the user should help to boost customer retention. If so, what were the pros and cons of each? Portfolio example: Tammy Taabassum - Wish Design Challenge. Write about the methods you used, what you learned along the way, the challenges you came up against, and how you solved certain problems. Jeremy Stokes is a former Google UX intern and current product designer at Duolingo. If you are a student, prepare case studies on group projects that youve completed while working towards your degree. Iterate on Your Work. Being able to connect with employers through the program was the support that I needed. Oftentimes, stakeholders come to researchers with lots of high-level questions or gaps in their understanding. They may also need help with development and implementation (and the resources that go with it). 2019-03-10 Join over 150k subscribers to get the latest articles, podcast episodes, and data-packed reportsin your inbox, every week. You'll also have the opportunity to participate in a Capstone project to build the front end of a web application. Set business goals and success metrics for each case study, and, where possible, include data and tangible outcomes. The result? Whether theyre starting from scratch or upskilling, they have one thing in common: They go on to forge careers they love. When and how to run remote unmoderated user tests like surveys, card sorts, A/B tests, and task analysis. Your UX design portfolio is not just a websiteits part of your personal brand. As you write project summaries for your portfolio, think about one or two of the most relevant or surprising findings from each project. Now, without further ado, here are our top nine UX design portfolio examples. Remember that iteration is an important part of the design process. These seven types of UX case studies make excellent portfolio material for UX designers looking to get their start in the industry. What are these skills, exactly? on A UX designer learns skills to make user interactions with websites, mobile apps, and physical products more usable, equitable, enjoyable, and useful. By now, Gloria has well and truly piqued the viewers interest. Update your portfolio Eniola joined the hosts of Awkward Silences for a live podcast episode and audience Q&A on breaking into a user research career. How to Build a Strong UX Research Portfolio with Examples Research Methods & Deliverables Interviewing & Research Skills Last Updated: November 23, In this article, well walk through seven types of portfolio case studies you can add to your portfolio that dont require you already having a job. Lola does an extremely important (yet scarce) thing: she puts the measurable impact of her UX design in the context of business needs. These types of projects often simulate real-world situations by giving you the constraints of a brief to work from, as well as teammates to collaborate with. Matchy. Building a portfolio of student, personal, or volunteer projects shows the type of skills that you will need in this field. Briefly Include methods, constraints, participants, analysis approach, and delivery of insights. Avoid signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for unpaid work. 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